Jim McDonald
Jim McDonald is a character in Coronation Street, who appeared as a regular from Ep 2984 - 27 Oct 1989 to 2000, then followed by recurring appearances from 2003 to 2014 and returned again in September 2018 so he did. Jim is an ex soldier, so he is and was married to Liz McDonald, so he was. "Elizabeth" he calls her. Jim could also be handy with his fists as times, so he could. In the past few stints in the series, Jim has become increasingly antagonistic and villainous contrast to the ordinary family man type character with a short fuse as seen in the 1990s. In recent years his crimes and deceits have included armed robbery, running an illegal operation within prison, and most recent trying to get revenge on his family by conning them and pretending his dead daughter Katie McDonald is still alive. Despite his attempts to make amends after these incidents, Jim always returns to his crooked ways. He is played by Charles Lawson, so he is. Jim is famous for his "so he is" at the end of many sentences and calling characters by the full names. Catch yourself on. Biography Backstory James McDonald was born on the 14th November 1955 in Belfast, Northern Ireland to Edward McDonald and Maisie McDonald - so he was. He had a sister Eileen MacDonald. Jim joined the army as a teenager and met young Liz Greenwood, from Weatherfield. His regiment was The Royal Engineers. Jim married Liz on the 5th January 1974 when he was 18 and she was 16. She was pregnant at the time and in June 1974 she gave birth to twins Steve McDonald and Andy McDonald. Jim spent years in the army so he did. In the mid 1970s, Liz had a brief fling with Jim's friend Johnny Johnson. 1989-2000 In late 1989, the MacDonald's moved into Number 11 Coronation Street. 33 year old Jim and his wife Liz and children Steve and Andy, both 15. Jim had a few disputes with shop owner Alf Roberts, who lived 2 doors down from him. One time in January 1990, Jim had to sort things out when Steve and Andy accidentally drove a JCB into Alf's shop. Jim soon settled into life in Coronation Street. In 1991, Liz was pregnant and on the 1st January 1992, Jim and Liz had a daughter Katie McDonald who died soon after. Katie was premature. In 1993, Jim and Liz scoffed at Andy's relationship with Amy Nelson who was about 10 years older than him. In 1996, Jim and Liz bumped into an old army friend of his, Johnny Johnson. It turned out there was a thing between him and Liz years ago. Jim dragged Liz from the car and hit her. In April 1998, Jim and Steve argued over his recent affair with Fiona Middleton and Jim fell off the scaffolding into a skip full of rubble. Jim was rushed to hospital but soon regained consciousness but was paralysed from the waist down, so he was. He was told he may never walk again. Upon his release from hospital, Jim struggled with his disability and was confined to a wheelchair. He was lucky to find out that he was only temporarily paralysed and started to regain the use of his legs, even if it meant hobbling around on a walking stick for a few months. He soon regained the full use of his legs. After Steve was attacked by drug dealer Jez Quigley, Jim confronted him and his flat and beat him up. Jez was taken to hospital, where he later died of a ruptured spleen (after attempting to finish off Steve in his hospital bed). Jim was arrested and charged with murder, although was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced up to eight years in prison. Before his incarceration, he reunited with Liz and they married again, with Steve and Andy present at the wedding. 2000-2007 Three years later, Jim was considered for parole, however he broke out of prison and with the help of Steve fled to Blackpool, as he believed Liz was cheating on him. However this wasn't the case, and they made plans to flee the country together. Jim eventually surrendered to the police however and was sent back to prison. In 2005, Jim lost another chance at parole when he violently beat up a cellmate of him. Liz visited him in prison, and tired of waiting made clear that it was over between them. They then divorced. Jim was released early in 2007 for good behaviour and reunited with Steve and got to meet his granddaughter Amy. Jim still had feelings for Liz and wasn't impressed about her upcoming wedding to Vernon Tomlin, feeling they weren't right for each other. On the day of the wedding, Jim and Liz kissed and an angry Vernon attempted to attack Jim, but Jim retaliated by beating up Vernon. An angry Steve intervened and sent Jim packing, feeling that he hasn't truly changed. 2008-2011 On Christmas Day 2008, Steve lied about meeting Jim for a drink in order to secret meet up with Becky Granger, who he was having an affair with behind his partner Michelle's back. Jim made a surprise return for Steve's wedding to Becky in August 2009, although the happiness was cut short when the reception at the Rovers was raided by police, who found drugs on the premises. Liz's new man Lloyd Mullaney wasn't too keen on Jim's presence as he didn't trust him, although Jim laughed it off. Before Jim left, he urged Steve to get to the bottom of what happened with Becky, and after a tender moment with Liz left in a taxi with Andy. In November 2010, Jim made a visit for his birthday, although Liz wasn't present as she had to go off to Spain to see Andy. Her new man (yes another one) Owen Armstrong didn't like Jim being around, and hired some of his builder mates to beat him up and put him in hospital as a warning. Jim returned three months later and got back with Liz after she recently dumped Owen. When Steve and Becky made plans to flee the country with Amy and her nephew Max in order to escape Steve's recently released ex Tracy Barlow, Jim and Liz agreed to buy the pub from them and run it together. However Jim didn't have the money, and not wanting to let Liz and everyone down he took to trying to rob a building society, but failed when the alarm was tripped and police arrived. He held the place hostage, but eventually allowed the hostages to go and planned to shoot himself in the head and end it all. But after a phone call from Liz urging him not to go through with it, he gave himself up to the police and was taken into custody. Liz decided to leave Weatherfield shortly after for a new life in Spain with Andy. Later in the year Jim was sentenced to eight years in prison. Angry and bitter, he broke off contact with Steve. 2011-2018: Return to the big house By 2014, Jim gained a lot of influence in Highfield Prison in which he would smuggle in supplies for the inmates, which mostly included alcohol, and earned him the nickname "The Landlord". When Peter Barlow was remanded that year after being wrongfully charged for the murder of his girlfriend Tina McIntyre, he went to "The Landlord" to try and get some booze and was surprise to find it was Jim. Jim welcomed him to the "big house" and the pair chatted, in which Jim asked how Steve was getting on. Jim allowed Peter to have a drink, although warned him that he would be called up to repay the debt. Due to Peter's alcoholism, he suffered withdrawals from the alcohol and became dependent on Jim. 2018-: Second release He returned in 2018 after serving his prison sentence, and will attend Steve's second wedding to Tracy Barlow (and Steve's seventh marriage overall). When Jim returned, Peter Barlow went for him as Jim had almost killed him once. He had to be restrained. Dopey Kirk was one of them. "Steven" "Steven" said Jim to his estranged son. Jim got a woman called Hannah to pretend to be him and Liz's dead daughter Katie so they could fleece Liz. Although initially appearing short-term, he will return again in 2019 on a full time basis. Expect many more "so you are's" and "so I am's" in the scripts. Behind the Scenes Charles Lawson left the show in 2000, departing as a regular cast member in December that year. He returned three years later for a few episodes set in Blackpool, in which Jim had escaped prison and reunited with Liz, with the pair intending to escape together. However this led to Jim's second exit from the programme in which he was recaptured. At the same time Julie Goodyear reprised her role as Bet Lynch for the final time in order to appear in the episodes, and Beverley Callard also returned to the show after leaving back in 2001. From that stint onwards Lawson continued appearing for recurring appearances as Jim, with further brief appearances being in 2004, 2005, and 2007, the last which Jim was released from prison after good behaviour. He returned in 2009 for Steve's marriage to Becky McDonald, and again in late 2010. However in his 2010 stint, Callard had taken time off due to ill health, so Jim was absent again until March 2011, in which his return tied with Callard's exit from the programme. The exit saw Jim being sent back to prison after trying to rob a building society, and ended up being sentenced to seven years. Lawson was not satisfied with the storyline, however he understood the writers reasons as they had to rewrite whatever plans they had for the character due to Callard's sick leave. Three years later, Lawson returned again and was given a three-months contract, although his character's scenes took place in prison, and tied with a storyline in which Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of Tina McIntyre. Lawson returned four years later in September 2018 in which Jim was released from prison and planned revenge on his family for abandoning him, making the character even more antagonistic than before. It was intended for the storyline to go on longer, but due to Lawson's commitments to Theatre (he was due to star as Detective John Rebus in a Rebus adaptation) so the story was cut short and he departed after only a month. Trivia Jim's surname is Scottish and suggests Scotch Irish ancestry. In September 2018, Tracy bought a McDonald tartan. In 1990, Jim and Liz mentioned Steve and Andy's "Uncle Colin". This may have been Jim's brother as it looks like Liz did not have any siblings. Memorable info Appearances: 27 October 1989–2 December 2000, 17–28 November 2003, 27 December 2004, 23–27 May 2005, 30 November 2007–2 January 2008, 14–20 August 2009, 15 November–2 December 2010, 24 March–15 April 2011, 8 August–22 October 2014, 7 September–12 October 2018 Born: 14th November 1955, Belfast, Northern Ireland Full Name: James McDonald Parents: Edward McDonald and Maisie McDonald Siblings: Eileen McDonald Grandfathers: James McDonald Spouse: Liz Greenwood (1974-1997, 2000-2005) Children: Steve McDonald (1974), Andy McDonald (1974), Katie MacDonald (1992) Grandchildren: Amy Barlow, Ruairi McDonald (stillborn), Oliver Battersby Category:Coronation Street Characters. Category:Characters first seen in 1989. Category:McDonald's. Category:Builders Category:Coronation Street bad boys. Category:Convicted Criminals. Category:Villains. Category:Murderers Category:1955 births Category:1974 Marriages Category:Soldiers Category:Characters with memorable sayings/catchphrases Category:Characters last seen in 2018.